The Philadelphia 76ers spent months hearing about how their roster construction wouldn't work, and the "one ball" theory would destroy their championship plans. So many superteams have failed before them. So, why would it work for high-usage stars like Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, Jaylen Brown, and LeBron James?
All of that time listening to naysayers, just to hear the narrative shift when the Sixers start silencing that argument. A "surprisingly" selfless brand of basketball has worked for Philadelphia so far. After they won against the Detroit Pistons on the road, the Sixers advanced to 8-1 on the season, improving their first-place lead to 1.5 games in the Eastern Conference.
So, what's the problem now?
The schedule looks easy?
Funny, before the season started, many NBA fans looked at the Sixers' first stretch of games and believed they would get humbled quickly. But because of the way the season has shaken out so far, the Sixers' schedule suddenly doesn't look so tough.
Going purely off the numbers, ESPN's strength of schedule index ranks them at No. 11. Slightly harder than the middle of the road. That's for the numbers folks out there. If we go based on recent history, that says the Sixers haven't played some cupcake schedule, no matter what the records say right now.
Three out of the first seven opponents were playoff teams last season. Milwaukee, Chicago, and Indiana missed the playoffs outright, while the Charlotte Hornets finished No. 9 in the tight East race, just one game behind the Sixers.
When Friday's action against the Cleveland Cavaliers concludes, the Sixers' first 10 games of the 2026-2027 NBA season would include two games against the Knicks two games against the Pistons, and two games against the Cavaliers. More than half the stretch.
How fast they forget...
None of those teams mentioned faced major core changes in the offseason. You can be the judge of whether that's good or bad, but reality says that they just found some high level of success not even one year ago.
The Pistons didn't have the strongest playoff run. They barely squeezed out of the first round, but went toe-to-toe with the Cavaliers for seven games before getting knocked out in round two. The Pistons were No. 1 in the Eastern Conference last season, being the only team to notch 60 wins.
The Cavaliers made it to the Eastern Conference Finals after going 52-30. Granted, they were smoked by the Knicks, who were red-hot from the start of the postseason until the finish, but they made it to the league's final four, which has to count for something.
Lastly, not too much needs to be said about the Knicks. They are the NBA's most recent champ, and they saw little turnover in their primary rotation, losing only a backup center.
As LeBron said on Wednesday in Detroit, it's way too early to start thinking about the NBA Finals if you're the Sixers. Anybody would be foolish to think that every team's identity is finalized in early November, but the 76ers deserve credit. They've crushed narratives early, and aren't actually doing it on some soft schedule.
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